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November 10, 2017

Stamps’ wait for an opponent almost over

It’s been wait-and-see time again for the Stampeders.

This Sunday, though, their gaze will be squarely cast on the Western Semi-Final between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos, finally learning who their opponent will be for the Western Final Nov. 19 at McMahon.

While the coaches and players have been planning the last week for both eventualities, one thing they knew they could do for certain was fine-tune and improve their own game when they returned to the field Thursday.

“We’re looking to look at ourselves and see what we’ve been doing and where we can get better,” said head coach Dave Dickenson after the team’s first day back on the field Thursday. “There’s lots of areas.

“I think the guys want to be here and they want to get better. They’re looking forward to an opportunity. They’re looking forward to playing in the West final and getting the job done. Our guys are ready to be back and they’re more than willing to work.

“It was good to get the guys in and competing and just trying to get back into the groove and getting better. It was a cold day, but our guys were into it and I certainly thought it was a good start for us.”

With three straight losses to end the regular season, the Stamps know they’ll need to figure things out and bring their A-game in the one-and-done Western Final.

To get better, they’re getting right back to the basics.

“We’re not trying to do anything new really,” Dickenson said. “We’re just trying to go out there and fine tune what we’ve done and see where we can improve. Find those areas, identify them and do drill work to try to get better at it.”

The time off before the Western Final has been beneficial to the club, allowing players such as Cordarro Law, Brandon Smith and Marquay McDaniel to return to get healthier.

The coaches will now have some personnel decisions to make when nailing down the roster for Nov. 19.

“I like to think that there’s jobs available,” said Dickenson. “Meaning that there’s plenty of competition out there. We’ve got some guys coming back and I want them to make a heavy push. We’ve got to have our best roster available.

“We’ve got lots of question marks still, but these three days are important but not the end all. We’re probably going into the playoffs fairly healthy. We don’t have a ton of guys who won’t be available.

“We’ll see who breaks the roster.”